Squash

[chickhamm]

I have beautifull larg squash plants, only problem is many of the plants are not producing any fruit. They are flowering prolifically but nothing else. What could be the cause of this and how can i help them produce better? ill try to get some pictures up.

chickhamm
Theressa
GA

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

If they are flowering but no producing fruit then they may not be getting pollinated.

Or, are they dropping fruit? This may be a lack of water.

Take a male flower and pollinate female flowers as they emerge and this should take care of the problem.

 

[chickhamm]

what fruit that has been developing is doing great. thank you, though i cant tell boy from girl, ill get a small paint brush and use that.


chickhamm
Theressa
GA

 

[bills]

The male flower is usually on a long thin stem, where the female is down close to the main stem.

You don't mention what kind of squash your growing. On some squash such as butternut, or spaghetti, the plant vine will grow endlessly, and have many fruits along the way. I found that once I had 5-6 fruits per vine, I would cut off the growing tip of the vine, so that the energy would go into growing the gourds rather than the vine/leaves. You get bigger squash this way, and they will all vine ripen before winter hits. This also prevents the plant from taking over your yard!

Now if your growing zuchinni, that's another story. With them, you can, (and better), just keep picking the squash as they get to the edible size. The plant will keep producing more until fall weather hits. If you don't pick the zuch's regularly, you will end up with less, but huge, monster, (although not as tasty) squash.